Off-peak closures will be implemented while crews prepare the roadways for a traffic switch in April that will put westbound I-70 traffic through the newly completed eastbound tunnel and eastbound I-70 traffic onto the detour route around the tunnel that was in place for the Eastbound Twin Tunnels project. Three additional FULL CLOSURES have been added to the scheduled lane closure report for the upcoming week. On Monday and Friday mornings around 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday morning at approximately 7 a.m. both eastbound and westbound I-70 will be closed for 30 minutes so that crews can perform blasting operations at the East Portal of the tunnel for a concrete box culvert extension. Drivers should anticipate delays during this time and should add additional time to their travels.

Crossover work in the median, instrumentation, drilling and sawing in the westbound tunnel and rock wall surveying are all part of the planned activities for next week, east and west of the Twin Tunnels.

Lane closures are scheduled as follows, all work is weather permitting:

Drivers should be prepared for longer than normal delays while the above lane closures are in place – depending on traffic volumes. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) recommends that drivers plan extra driving time for their trips through this area during construction.

The Westbound I-70 Twin Tunnels project is part of a package of improvements designed to ease congestion on the I-70 mountain corridor. This $55 million project will widen the westbound tunnel bore in Idaho Springs to accommodate a future third westbound lane, but will not add a third highway lane at this time. With resources still in place from the 2013 project that widened the eastbound tunnel, it is estimated that doing this work now will save $5 million to $7 million. The new tunnel is scheduled to open to traffic by the end of this year and project completion is scheduled for the summer of 2015 when restoration work is finished on County Road 314. For more information, call 303-327-4034 or visit www.coloradodot.info/projects/i70twintunnels. For current road and weather conditions you can also text CDOT to 25827 or download the CDOT mobile application to your smartphone.